Chapter 1

Today, the weather was unusually not overcast.

A gentle breeze carried warm sunlight through the castle's open windows.

It dispelled some of the damp, oppressive feeling brought by living beside the sea.

Xia Zuoyi sneezed softly.

He withdrew his gaze from the flock of seabirds flying past the window and looked at Butler Johnson, who stood more than two meters away from him.

The old butler looked exceptionally disheveled at the moment.

Strands of messy hair hung over his forehead, his clothes were wrinkled, his hands were bound behind his back, and he knelt on the hard stone floor.

He had been found guilty of stealing the master's property.

Tears streaming down his face, he pleaded with Xia Zuoyi about the affection they had once shared as master and servant.

He hoped to move the young master, who had inherited the title of count at only six years old, and persuade him to spare his life for the sake of the late old count.

"Creator God above, I sincerely repent for my sins..."

Having exhausted all his acting skills, old Johnson saw his little master, who had remained silent for so long, raise a hand.

His face lit up with joy.

He thought things had finally taken a turn for the better.

Xia Zuoyi's voice was still faintly childish, yet left no room for doubt. "There's no need to say more. After all, next year today will be the anniversary of your death. I don't want to hear nonsense from a dead man."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gave a slight wave of his raised hand.

The knight standing quietly nearby understood and stepped forward, dragging away old Johnson, whose face had instantly turned ashen with disbelief.

After the maid left as well, Xia Zuoyi was alone in the room.

He sneezed twice more uncontrollably.

The cold caused by falling into the sea had not fully healed, leaving him with a mild headache and a stuffy nose.

He stretched out his two chubby little hands, their backs dimpled with baby fat, pulled over a blanket, and wrapped himself up like a Russian nesting doll. Only then did Xia Zuoyi comfortably curl up in the oversized chair and close his eyes.

"System."

[Zen System 098 at your service.]

A stick figure with the number 098 above its head popped out.

Xia Zuoyi asked, "Has the plot deviated?"

The stick figure pulled out a battery icon. It was blank, like a fully depleted battery, and read: Plot Deviation 0%.

Xia Zuoyi sighed.

He had transmigrated into a novel.

A Mary Sue romance novel set in an unrealistic medieval Western fantasy world.

Naturally, he was not the Mary Sue heroine.

He was cannon fodder with only ten chapters of screen time in total.

Within those ten chapters, he appeared, acted brain-dead, courted death, and was ultimately convicted of bestiality before dying miserably by hanging.

He dutifully fulfilled his role as a vicious tool character and plot bulldozer.

And old Butler Johnson was the cunning villain who had placed obstacles in the path of his plot-bulldozing advance.

He had manipulated, deceived, and seized power.

He had practically been one step away from usurping the title.

Unfortunately for him, a count's title was inherited by bloodline.

After learning the plot,

the first person Xia Zuoyi dealt with was old Johnson, who had already stolen the castle's property.

Yet the result was right before him: the plot had not deviated in the slightest.

According to the system's explanation—the novel's everything was predetermined fate.

For example, the heroine and hero were destined to be together.

For example, Xia Zuoyi was destined to die.

Even if Xia Zuoyi stayed away from the heroine and avoided the gallows, he would later be burned to death, drowned, crushed to death, or killed by other accidents...

Unless he changed the fate of the world.

Clearly, old Johnson having his role cut short could not shake the fate of the world.

Not even a little.

System 098 said, [The novel is centered around the heroine and written around her.]

[In other words, the worldlines beyond the heroine are incomplete and fragmented.]

[For example, the East Continent is mentioned only once in the book, in two sentences, with no further description. The host is on the Western Continent, so it is impossible to find the East Continent no matter what.]

[When the heroine dies, the world will collapse.]

Xia Zuoyi was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die because of some unrelated person's brain-dead behavior.

"What should I do?"

[This world has the setting of a fictional medieval Western world, but fantasy and unrealistic elements have been added.]

System 098 gave an example. [In the real Middle Ages, people believed in God, with Christianity, Catholicism, and so on. In this world, there is only the Creator God, the deity who created all things.]

[The Creator God favors the Divine Flower Belanka. Legend says that those favored by the god can make the pure white divine flower bloom a vivid red.]

Some aspects differed from the real medieval West.

Yet they also overlapped to a great extent.

System 098 said, [This world is undoubtedly as backward and ignorant as the Middle Ages.]

[Even after the real Middle Ages, the world continued to progress. At its root, that came from the push of development. Host, please make clear what the essence of development is.]

Xia Zuoyi said, "...Do systems also moonlight as political science teachers?"

The stick figure knocked on a blackboard. [It is the emergence of new things and the demise of old things.]

[098 has thoughtfully prepared a strategy for the host who does not want to die and seeks development: comprehensive infrastructure construction.]

[Infrastructure, for short.]

[It can both prevent the inevitable death ending and complete the worldline, changing the fate of the world's collapse.]

098's thoughtful strategy truly was the best solution Xia Zuoyi could think of.

[Does the host accept: Yes. No.]

"Yes."

The moment he spoke, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed.

A three-dimensional map of the Western Continent slowly rose within the system interface.

There were seas, mountains, rivers...

As well as the two great empires, all the smaller nations, cities...

[Lighting up the host's current territory: Visas (the countryside).]

Along with System 098's voice, a remote coastal city within the Gadayat Kingdom instantly shed its gray coloring and became clear and vibrant.

Above it were labels showing Visas's territory size, population, and other information.

System 098 said, [From now on, Visas will be the starting point for the host's comprehensive infrastructure construction. The gray areas are the host's future, to be won through hard work.]

[Host, keep it up. 098 believes in you.]

"..."

The Gadayat Kingdom was a small country occupying very little land on the map of the Western Continent.

Visas was a poor little territory by the remote coast of the Gadayat Kingdom—no, the countryside.

The future he had to work hard for... was the entire Western Continent?

Xia Zuoyi felt his head begin to ache. "You really think highly of me."

He noticed a battery icon representing plot deviation in the upper-right corner of the system interface.

Behind it was a white building icon.

It read: Reputation: 0.

"What is this?"

[Since the host may lack certain stores of knowledge, 098 has specially opened the Omniscient Library for you. The host may use reputation to exchange for the right to read relevant books.]

[Note: Reputation can only be obtained within the host's territory.]

What was reputation?

—It was the renown people looked up to.

In other words, it depended on how much the people living within Visas recognized him as their lord.

Xia Zuoyi Desinia's mother had died in childbirth when giving birth to him. His father, Matt Desinia, had been obsessed with alchemy, neglecting Visas's administration and drastically raising taxes throughout the territory...

Naturally, the already remote coastal "countryside" had become even poorer and more rundown.

Matt Desinia's reputation could easily be imagined.

The entire Desinia Family did not have a good image in the hearts of Visas's commoners.

After Matt Desinia died unexpectedly, the Desinia Family was inherited by Xia Zuoyi Desinia.

A little count who was only six years old and could not possibly accomplish anything was even less likely, in the eyes of Visas's commoners, to improve their lives.

—The road ahead was long and arduous.

Being able to exchange reputation for relevant knowledge was good news for Xia Zuoyi.

The heroine lived in the Saint Airo Empire, one of the two great empires, which frequently clashed with and went to war against the Anas Empire.

As for the Gadayat Kingdom—

It was backward, poor, inconspicuous, and waiting to be conquered by the hero's iron cavalry.

At this point in the plot, Xia Zuoyi still had plenty of time to prepare the capital he needed to gain a foothold.

The opening was difficult.

At least he had the status of a noble and held the title of count.

But counts also ranked high and low among themselves, entirely depending on the location and size of their territories.

Visas ranked at the bottom.

Xia Zuoyi took a deep breath. "No wonder I was cannon fodder in the novel."

System 098 asked, [Host, is there anything else I can do for you?]

"Not for now."

After Xia Zuoyi finished speaking, the stick figure dragged a package out from beyond the edge of the system interface and slung it onto its back.

[In that case, 098 is going traveling. Offline automatic reply mode is now activated. If the host has any questions, you may send a cosmic email to 098's cosmic mailbox.]

Xia Zuoyi was slightly stunned. "You? Going traveling?"

[That's right. The universe is so vast. 098 wants to go see it.]

[Please rest assured, host. The return route is fast and safe. 098 will bring the host a gift upon returning.]

Xia Zuoyi did not quite understand this system.

"You're not staying to monitor the plot deviation progress?"

[Please silently recite 098's full name.]

"...Zen System 098?"

[Please understand clearly, host, that 098 is the ninety-eighth system to appear in the Zen series. In carrying out the host's task, it must uphold the Zen philosophy. A Zen system must be free of desires and indifferent to worldly matters. It does not supervise or urge; everything depends on the host's self-awareness.]

"...What other series are there?"

[The silly series, the tycoon series, the chuunibyou series, the pay-to-win series...]

Xia Zuoyi said, "You sound comparatively normal."

[Thank you for praising 098, host.]

Their conversation ended when 098 left.

There was a stick-figure avatar in the upper-left corner of the system interface. He only needed to click it if he wanted to send an email.

Xia Zuoyi opened his eyes. Outside the window, the weather was still clear.

He threw aside the tightly wrapped little blanket and stood up with a hand braced against the chair back.

Standing on the chair, he was tall enough to gaze out at the magnificent Cogit Sea.

Xia Zuoyi murmured, "The marine economy..."

In the future, the most valuable and useful thing about the impoverished Visas territory would probably be its rights to use the waters of the Cogit Sea.

The novel had introduced the Cogit Sea—the broadest ocean on the Western Continent. It connected two inland rivers: the Volri River, which flowed through the Anas Empire, and the Aibuting River, which flowed through the Saint Airo Empire.

And at the farthest end of the Cogit Sea lay the East Continent.

Xia Zuoyi's slightly short, chubby fingers slid across the chair back as he contemplated in silence.

Just then, the system gave a ding.

An email arrived.

Xia Zuoyi was puzzled. Had 098 not left only moments ago?

He poked the stick-figure avatar that was continuously shaking.

An email popped up—[Dear host, 098 forgot to give you your transmigration benefit. The benefit for choosing the infrastructure strategy is this: there is a natural asphalt mine on Par Mountain, adjacent to Visas. A map is attached, with the precise location marked.]

A jpg image followed.

Xia Zuoyi froze. "A natural asphalt mine."

He knew about it. It was a waterproof and anticorrosive material widely used in civil engineering.

It had to be said that the system's gift was extremely practical.

The only problem was how he could bring Par Mountain within Visas's territorial boundaries and make it his private property.

Staring at the gray Par Mountain on the map, Xia Zuoyi fell into deep thought.

For the time being, he put the matter of Par Mountain aside.

Xia Zuoyi summoned the young maid Kelly and asked, "Where is the person who rescued me from the sea?"

Kelly looked somewhat uneasy, clutching at her skirt with sweat-dampened hands. "My lord, he is in prison."

Xia Zuoyi frowned slightly, making Kelly even more nervous.

After old Butler Johnson had been dealt with so swiftly and decisively, she could not help realizing that this little count before her was different from the old count, who had been utterly obsessed with alchemy and ignored every matter, great and small, within the castle...

He was somewhat worried about the innocent Judith Jansen.

Shazoi Desinia had been swept away by the waves because he had been playful, and because old Johnson had failed to watch over him properly and had been careless.

There had been quite a few male servants with them at the time, but Judith Jansen had been the only one who had gone down to save him without hesitation.

After being rescued, Shazoi Desinia's fever had refused to break.

In an era where even the slightest illness could claim a person's life,

Judith Jansen had been convicted.

The charge was: failing to rescue the young count sooner, causing the young count to fall into a coma from a high fever.

It sounded absurd, but such a charge was entirely valid across the Western Continent.

Noble privilege stood above all else.

The lives of commoners and slaves were worth less than dirt.

Judith Jansen would not have been convicted under normal circumstances.

But if Shazoi Desinia had died, old Butler Johnson would have been the first to suffer. To shirk responsibility and escape punishment, he would naturally need someone to take the blame.

A higher-ranking official could crush those beneath him.

Judith Jansen had no way to resist.

Xia Zuoyi had not expected him to be in prison. "Bring him here."

"Yes, my lord."

Judith Jansen was soon escorted into the room and made to kneel on the cold floor.

Two days in prison had probably not been easy.

He looked pale, with cracked lips and a little stubble on his chin. Yet his hair had been neatly combed back, and though his clothes were slightly dirty, they had few wrinkles. They merely clung to his body from the dampness.

He had taken good care of himself. The baseless accusation had not left him listless or dispirited. His expression was calm, without the slightest hint of panic or unease.

Xia Zuoyi withdrew his scrutinizing gaze. He had originally planned to give him a reward before releasing him, but he changed his mind.

"Your name."

A childish voice rang out.

Judith Jansen, who had kept his eyes lowered since entering, raised them slightly.

He saw the young count sitting in the center of a large chair, his feet not reaching the ground. The feverish flush was no longer visible on his round cheeks, which now carried a healthy color.

"Judith Jansen, my lord."

"Do you want to clear your name?"

Xia Zuoyi said, "I can give you one chance."

Of course Judith Jansen did. "Please enlighten me, my lord."

"Serve at my side. If you satisfy me, you will naturally be absolved."

"...Yes, my lord."

This request seemed strange and confusing to Judith Jansen.

Because it was too easy.

After all, serving the count had originally been his duty and responsibility.

As a second-class male servant, he had previously not been qualified to serve the count directly. His main work had been cleaning the castle and farming the land.

The work had been the most exhausting, and the food the lowest grade.

Yet by staying at the young count's side and serving him at all times, aside from needing to remain alert and handle every task meticulously, his treatment in every other respect was far better than before...

Especially since the young count, having survived a great disaster, had become obedient and composed. He did not deliberately make things difficult for him.

As the days passed, he gradually adapted.

Judith Jansen became increasingly adept at his new duties.

As for Xia Zuoyi, he had confirmed his suspicions.

—Judith Jansen truly was a thoughtful, meticulous, conscientious, and steady person.

He observed Xia Zuoyi's habits upon waking and before sleeping, silently memorized them, and arranged everything properly and reasonably.

He paid attention to what Xia Zuoyi needed to do each day, learning about and familiarizing himself with it in advance so he could answer immediately when questioned.

Judith got along well with all the servants in the castle. His speech, conduct, etiquette, and everything else were beyond reproach.

Moreover, he had saved Xia Zuoyi without hesitation. Even after being thrown into prison, he had remained composed, cared about his appearance, and refused to let himself look embarrassed. Those were the main reasons Xia Zuoyi had decided to change his mind.

During that time, Judith also gave him a surprise.

"You can read?"

Xia Zuoyi was somewhat surprised.

Because Judith had quickly sorted and organized the books Xia Zuoyi had accidentally dropped on the floor.

"Yes, my lord. My great-great-grandfather was once granted the title of baron," Judith answered.

On the Western Continent, titles were inherited by nobles. Only the lowest rank, baron, could be granted through merit.

Other than that, commoners had no opportunities for advancement.

Being able to read was already something rare.

Being granted the title of baron was even rarer.

And to gain it only to lose it afterward, his family must have suffered tremendous upheaval.

The current Judith Jansen had no relatives, only friends.

Xia Zuoyi had no intention of reopening his wounds.

No wonder he was unlike an ordinary male servant. Even his etiquette was exceptionally proper.

The assessment was over.

Xia Zuoyi said directly, "Are you willing to become Desinia's steward?"

Judith's pupils trembled.

He had neither expected nor prepared himself to hear those words. The leap from a second-class male servant to steward was too great, and for a moment, he stood frozen in place.

But he quickly came to his senses and lowered his head. "I am willing, my lord."

Sunlight streamed through the windows and wandered into every corner of the room, bright and warm. Even the tiny motes of dust floating in the air were clearly visible.

Xia Zuoyi sat upright in his chair, seeming to be enveloped in golden light. He extended his hand. "From today onward, you will be loyal to me."

Judith knelt on one knee, gently lifted the pale, chubby little hand, and pressed it to his forehead. In a soft yet devout voice, he said, "I will be forever loyal to you."